The Ford Escort is the protagonist of a glorious history in the world of rallies. It happens that this machine has become, for own merits, one of the most iconic vehicles of the Detroit boys since a RS1600 won the 1973 Finland Rally with Timo Makinen at the wheel. Then came other victories in Acrópolis, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Great Britain, New Zealand or Safari, with drivers such as Björn Waldegård , Hannu Mikkola or Ari Vatanen.

In these days we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the market launch of the Ford Escort Mk I, and even today it is still spectacular to hear the four-cylinder engine in front longitudinal position, while the rear axle is still looking for ways to transmit such power as one of the most playful rears.

You can also join the celebration thanks to the re-editon made by Italeri of the veteran Esci kit. Are you in the mood for that challenge?

That's how Christmas is coming, it seemed distant but it finally stepped on the gas and got here in a jiffy ;-D We hope it won't run over you, although for sure some of our tongues are hanging out trying to keep up.

If you are one of those who have everything under control, surely you didn't forget to order one or several of our products to find them under the tree on the 25th and open them with the same illusion as a child.

We are already finishing the year, this 2018 that so many modeling joys has given us... and we are already looking forward to see how many and which new and interesting products are scheduled for the new year 2019.

However, we are going to squeeze these days and enjoy the latest news of the year on our website, before resetting the counter to zero. You have already available the reedition of the Renault R5 Alpine (which we guess will take very little time to sell out), new references by Colorado Decals, very interesting decals by Reji, and the Iveco Turbostar by Italeri. In addition, we finish the year with the announcement of several Beemax kits for 2019.

Are you ready for a new year with SpotModel? We already anticipated that we are preparing very interesting things, with some ideas that are going to change the world of civil scale modeling... the future is coming strong

This Portuguese brand has been manufacturing decals for more than 10 years, although maybe some of you still do not know it. Their catalogue is mainly focused on modern rally cars decorations in 1/24 scale and we are sure you will love it.

In addition to the classic silk-screen decal printing technology, they are also using modern digital UV printing equipment. An example of this is the Valentino Rossi decoration at the Monza Rally Show of the year 2013 for Belkits Ford Fiesta RS.

We also recommend you to take a look at their generic decals with rally plates of different years, they are very interesting

In the scale modeling scene there are some important issues that are beyond our workbenches. One of these important issues are the "licenses" granted by actual car and motorcycle manufacturers to the manufacturers of our beloved models, so they can reproduce and market their models.

It often happens that the management and terms of such licenses delay the marketing of a product, such as the VW and Ford models by Belkits, and that on some occasions the arrival of the kits has been delayed for almost a year since its announcement as a novelty.

It also happens that these licenses "expire" over time, as in the case of the Ferrari license that has been granted to Model Factory Hiro, and that at the beginning of this year has not been renewed. We already discussed this issue in one of our past newsletters, but we want to insist because... what does it actually mean? Well MFH, at least for now, discontinues eeeeeevery single one of their Ferrari kits. Buaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!! :'-(

But do NOT despair, there are still a few days left before the end of the license, so some models are still available: the list is published at MFH website here and here. If you are interested in buying any of them please contact SpotModel as soon as possible. They are flying!!

On one hand a machine of the 80's, with the brutality of his 480 declared horsepower (up to 900hp in some tests) out from an 1800cc engine, which won the laurels in the most important rallies all around the world.

On the other hand a present day machine, with the brutality of more than 500hp out from a 3500cc V6 engine, which has not stopped achieving laurels since its debut a few years ago.

Both brutalities are already available in our shelves, in 1/24 scale. From the hands of Beemax / Aoshima we already have the Lancia Delta S4, the last of the mighty Group B machines, which comes with a brutal parts list, with the 1966 Monte Carlo decoration, and with all the usual details of an "all open" build. And right on the next shelf we have the 2017 Ford GT Le Mans by Revell, which also comes with a fully detailed engine and interior, and with a brutaly extensive decals sheet.

What's the distance between these brutal models and your workbench? Just two clicks at SpotModel website

Pop quiz: which Japanese car, winner of the world's biggest GT race driven by a Spaniard, is going to see the light soon in 1/24 scale by the hands of Tamiya?

Thank you!!! Thank you for listening to our prayers. The TS050 is the model we have all been dreaming about since last June 2018, when Fernando Alonso won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It will be presented next week at the Nüremberg Toy Fair, and of course we will be there to see the kit in first person. What a thrill!

Also, we can already hear some whisperings about a new Komakai release, a detail-up set by Decalcas, about photo-etched parts by Studio27... Even more excitement!!!

This week part of the SpotModel staff is on its way to the Nuremberg International Toy Fair where the most powerful manufacturers in the market usually announce their newest products, and which of course is a must for SpotModel.

The most famous novelty in terms of civil modeling might be the 1/24 scale Toyota TS050 by Tamiya that we already covered last week, and that you can already preorder on our website. But we will also be able to see the new products from Revell that we advance in this newsletter, or the Ford Fiesta RS WRC 2017 by Belkits, and many more things that we will tell you.

We have just returned from the German Toy Fair with a suitcase full of soooooo many news for you. The amount of products that we have to activate on the site is so big that we have not processed all of them yet, so we ask for a little patience, one of the greatest virtues we modelers have: waiting patiently for one putty part to dry, or for the clearcoat layer of a body, or for SpotModel to tell us the news for this year

As soon as we finish unpacking our bags, you will be able to enjoy several new products that are already available and ready to go to your workbenches. This is the case of the Shunko decal for the Ford GT by Revell, or the Decalcas and Reji decorations for the 131 and the Manta, or the MP4/31 kit by Ebbro, or all the warm-from-the-oven Hasegawa kits recently arrived in these days.

By the way, the first thing that has come out of the suitcase has been a price discount on the new Tamiya kit of the Toyota TS050. The first days we announced the kit with a higher price but it has already been updated (and of course refunded the corresponding amount to all of you who preordered the product in the first time)

Do not stop refresing SpotModel website, we are publishing all the new things every few minutes

It's not an aircraft, but we are sure that it will fly as well... So we ask you all to pay close attention because Pocher is going to put on the market 2,000 units of the Ducati 1299 Panigale S Anniversary in 1/4 scale, of course in kit format for you to build. And we are convinced that they will sold out even before the official release date, scheduled for September.

If super scale models are your thing, if you love motorcycles, if you like large scales, if you want this helluva product... do NOT hesitate a single moment to preorder yours at SpotModel!!

We already announced on our Facebook page a few days ago the mountain of novelties planned by Italeri for 2019, and in the previous newsletter we already advanced some of them.

This year they are going to relaunch some very interesting kits, as is the case of the Audi Quattro Rally that will arrive in a few weeks to SpotModel shelves, or the veteran Lancia LC2 originally released by Protar an age ago in 1/24 scale, or the Renault RE23 Turbo kit in 1/12 scale. But we will also have novelties such as the Alfa Romeo 8C in 1/12 scale, or several truck kits in 1/24 scale, such as the Volvo FH4 Globetrotter XL.

As you well know, the Italian manufacturer can push back or forward their product release dates, mainly due to the huge number of references they are launching to the market at the same time, with the complication that it entails. So, once again we beg you patience, but sooner or later all the models will arrive

We have been insisting for weeks that this year is incredibly hot scalemodel wise, so we are going to continue giving you more details on some of the announced releases. Let's start with Profil24: these lads are still betting on the 1/12 scale model kits, really big and spectacular, as well as very nice to assemble. Their newest kit is the Porsche 911 RSR in two versions as it raced at Le Mans last year 2018.

Beemax bets heavily and has a lot of projects for 2019 and 2020. First the MP4/2C in 1/20 scale to complete the three racing versions of this car. In scale 1/24 we will be getting these gems: the BMW M3 E46, a new version (still to be decided) of the Chevrolet Cruze, the long-awaited Paul Newman's Porsche K3, the A4 of the BTCC, the Peugeot Maxi 306, a Porsche 911 SC rally version and the BMW E46. As if that was not enough, they will also start a new line of kits, at cheaper prices and with the "smallest" number or parts, including the BMW 320 and the M1, both in their group 5 version.

On their part, Nunu boys threaten us with the Porsche 911 in both its GT3 RSR and GT3R versions, the Audi R8 LMS and the BMW M8 GTE. Our legs are still shaking with emotion!!!

Everything is ready: luggage, SpotModel stickers, toothbrush, and most importantly... the immense desire of meeting our European scale model builders and chat about models, see models, enjoy models, and even throw ourselves some models to our heads...

We have already seen the previews of some of the builds that will be presented at the event. Some are really spectacular, others simply delicious, others are "steaming"... Of course we will keep you informed on our Facebook page and upload tons of pictures so that everyone can enjoy what right now is the biggest date of Europe cars, trucks and motorcycles scale modeling scene. Do not miss it!!

On Friday we will be on our way to Belgium so we will not be able to prepare your shipments. But you know it's for a good cause

We tool fans have always believed that it is essential to have good allies at the workbench for taking our beloved projects to an end more easily or with more precision. And for we all, it is known that Tamiya is just in a different league than the majority of the other modeling tools manufacturers in terms of precision, product quality, durability, and quality of the manufacturing materials, as it happens with the rest of the products with which Tamiya makes our lives as scale modelers happier.

At SpotModel we are making room on the website to supply you with top-quality tools so you can surpass your current performance-level limits, such as Tamiya's tools for working with photo-etched products, or their polishing products.

And, as always, we want to go even further: have you not seen yet the wonders that can be done with the Ultrasonic cutter from Echo Tech? From now on, opening a door or a hood won't take you more than a few minutes, without breaking anything, without destroying the kit, and keeping all your fingers (still ten?) during the process.

Motobi was an Italian motorcycle manufacturer that created beautiful machines between 1950 and 1977, giving a lot to talk about in the streets, in race tracks, and in the popular "uphill races" taking part in daily used roads by the traffic.

All we who build motorcycle models feel really happy and lucky because Brach Model, a brand known for their excellent resins and interesting motorcycle models, has announced that in a few months we will be able to assemble the Motobi 250 6 Tiranti in 1/12 scale, featuring the usual meticulous detailing, masterfully executed resin parts, and all the magic we got used to in every one of their references.